While in London I had the opportunity to see a real live anti-war protest. It was kind of interesting, the protesters marched throughout the city and stopped in Trafalgar Square where they held their event. It was like the scene from Forrest Gump, somehow every speech ended up having some sort of relationship with Vietnam. There were Vietnam songs and poetry, replacing the word Vietnam with Afghanistan or Iraq. There was some criticism aimed at Bush, Cheney, Rice, etc. Overall I found it to be very low level, not at all what I expected. And from all these people I bet most were there for the excitement, the idea of protesting and fighting something . The kind that would back off instantly if there were some kind of consequences for their actions. And the rest probably don’t realize the futileness of their protest. Always was, is, always will be. I wanted for a few seconds to get on that stage and tell them to forget it , to go home to their real problems they can actually fight. But then I figured everyone who’s anyone fights for something impossible or near it, and If they feel is worth it, I wish them all the luck.

The guy in the first and last photos is Brian How. Since the war in Iraq started in 2001 he’s been in Parliament Square protesting against it. Gave up everything, moved into a tent and never moved from there in 7 years. Sometimes at night , people say, fascist kids came and beat him, without the police being able to do anything. The government repeatedly tried to remove him form there, without success . He soon became a symbol of the fight against war. Very very impressive thing he’s doing , but I think even he is starting to doubt. On the brink of new wars, he was now tired, could no longer walk. He just kept smoking his cigarettes for hours, without saying anything. I tried talking to him, telling him that a lot of people including myself are grateful for what he’s doing. He kept smoking without saying anything. I asked him if I could take some photos. Without looking at me for one second he knotted affirmatively . He didn’t look at anyone, as if to show his disappointment in the human race.
The image kind of got stuck in me.
You cand read more about Brian on his page or wikipedia.